


Moving On

by My_Missing_H



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, M/M, ghost!stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-24
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-11-26 16:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Missing_H/pseuds/My_Missing_H
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Derek's best friend dares him to spend the night at the old Stilinski place, he doesn't really expect an eventful evening. Until he meets a boy who may or may not be what he seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“I dare you to spend the night at the old Stilinski house.”

Derek could still hear Scott’s words in his mind. How easy the dare had seemed when they were just laughing at school, but standing there looking at the decrepit house, surrounded by nothing but woods, a feeling of unease took root in his stomach.

He tried to shake it as he readjusted the sleeping bag hanging over his shoulder. He was the infamous Derek Hale. Heartthrob, bad boy, and star lacrosse player.

He could handle spending the night in some old haunted house. He approached the door, hoping that motion would help to dislodge the feeling that something was wrong here. No such luck.

Pushing open the door, he stepped inside slowly, taking in his surroundings.

This house was nice. Too nice. He heard it had been abandoned like 50 years ago, but the state of it made it look like it had only been empty for a decade or so. A small smile played at his lips as he stepped further into the foyer, shutting the door behind him. “Honey, I’m home.”

Taking a quick tour, he found the master bedroom; a comfortable looking room with very few signs of decay. “This’ll be too easy.” He muttered, slowly setting down his sleeping bag on the mattress-less boxspring.

A chill ran down his spine as he heard a creak come from elsewhere in the house. Slowly exiting the bedroom he crept to the railing that overlooked the foyer, where another teenager stood looking at the closed door.

“Who are you?” Derek tried to sound confident, but a tiny bit of fear caused his voice to shake.

The teen looked up at him, amber eyes locking with Derek’s. “Name’s Stiles.” He said, hands freeing themselves from his pockets as his arms crossed over his chest. “You?”

“Derek.” He paused briefly, “Derek Hale.” His eyes flicked around the room, looking for anything that could be used to beat his way out of here. Nothing. “Did you get dared to stay here too?” Anything to keep him talking.

“You could say that.” His tone was emotionless, just stating facts. “I’m here pretty often.”

“Why would you want to come here? It’s run-down and gross.” This honestly wasn’t the truth, but to Derek Hale, who spent his life in a nice house with his rich family, this place could be considered a hobo shack.

“We all have our reasons to do things.” The tee- Stiles; Derek corrected in his mind; looked around for a few moments before uncrossing his arms and approaching the staircase, causing Derek to freeze. “Permission to come aboard Captain?”

“Um sure, I guess.” Derek relaxed a little bit before continuing. “I was just setting my sleeping bag in the master bedroom.” He didn’t really know what else to say as the other boy finished walking up the stairs. “I guess we could hang out or something since we’re both here for the night.” He flashed his trademark smile but Stiles didn’t seem to buy it, reaching out his hand anyway.

“Sounds like a plan.” They walked silently to the master bedroom, shutting the door behind them; cutting off the ridiculous draft that seemed to creep through the empty halls.

“I never did catch your full name.” Derek said as he plopped onto a chair, Stiles laying on the wooden floor.

“Does it really matter?” Stiles stretched out, finding a comfortable position as he looked up at Derek.

“I guess not, but I just figured since I told you mine.”

“You might have figured wrong.” As usual, Stiles spoke without thinking, observing the annoyed look that spread across Derek’s face before amending his statement, “Sorry, I don’t like people knowing my last name, it kinda changes their opinions.”

“Why would my opinion matter? It’s not like we know each other.” He looked down at the boy stretched out on the floor. “I’ll drop it though, if that makes you happy. I wouldn’t want to end up awkward with the only other person I have for company tonight.” He smiled and watched Stiles smile back.

“Thanks Derek.” After that, they sat in silence for a while, fortunately it was not silence of the awkward variety. But it was silence nonetheless, and so of course Stiles had to interrupt it.

“Boxers or briefs?” The look he received was incredulous, and he wished he could’ve taken a picture. After a few moments, he continued, “Well?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Well I figured we could just ask questions or something, you know.” He paused. “I like boxers, more freedom.” He looked up to Derek with expecting eyes.

“Fine, boxers. What’s your favorite color?”

They continued like that for hours, long after Derek had to pull out his electric lantern. And although Derek probably wouldn’t admit it, he had fun. Not because he found out that Stiles loved waffles as much as he did, or that he always wanted to be a singer. He had fun because Stiles actually seemed interested. Eventually, they ran out of innocent questions, this was what Derek really hoped wouldn’t happen.

“Furthest you’ve gone with a girl?” Stiles was staring at the ceiling as he spoke the words.

“Nothing.” This elicited a reaction.

“Really?” Stiles paused for a moment, briefly pondering his next move. This was his moment. “Furthest you’ve gone with anyone?”

Derek’s swallow was audible, briefly cutting through the tense silence. He looked down and saw Stiles’ eyes locked onto his, even in the dark they maintained their mischievous look. He wished he could say that he was just innocent, but his mouth filter just flipped off apparently. “I had sex with my best friend, and he was drunk, and we aren’t friends anymore.” He looked up at the ceiling, expecting the worst.

“That sucks, what a dick.” Stiles looked up at the ceiling after offering Derek a smile, one which was graciously accepted.

There was silence for a while, but it wasn’t as comfortable as before. The unasked question was hanging in the air.

“Me and my best friend started dating, but when I told my dad, he freaked out. I always thought that maybe if my mom was still.” He stopped for a moment. “Maybe he would’ve been a bit more accepting.”

“If your mom was still what?” Derek wasn’t very good at leaving things unchecked.

“She got killed. There was a shooting at the bank where she worked. She took a bullet for some random customer. My dad was never quite the same after that.” He sniffed once, finally sitting up and turning to face Derek.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. It’s really all in the distant past. But I got so angry at him after what happened with Chris.” He looked up, not to the ceiling like he knew Derek was thinking, but to the attic. “That’s why I did it.” He could feel his eyes piercing Derek’s as he brought his gaze downward.

“Did what exactly?” Derek was expecting murder, possibly arson. He was expecting something to completely destroy the fantasy of this perfect boy that he just happened to meet in this abandoned house.

“Do you still want to know my name Derek?” It was a simple question, but Stiles knew it had to be answered before he could get any sort of emotional attachment. It wouldn’t do too much good for him to pour his heart out and then just end up broken and alone. Broken and alone again.

‘What does this have to do with anything?’ Was all that was going through Derek’s mind, but that differed from what actually came out of his mouth. “Um, sure.”

He reached out his hand, shaking Derek’s firmly before relaxing and watching his hand fade through the other teen’s. “Stiles Stilinski; resident poltergeist; at your service.”

Watching someone else’s hand pass through his was quite possibly the most surreal thing that Derek had experienced. It was only a few seconds before the past few seconds registered with his brain, and he jumped back, “Holy shit!” He yelped, falling over the back of the chair.

Stiles laughed. “Go ahead and run, I won’t stop you.” He looked from Derek to the floor, and back up to Derek’s green eyes. “I’m used to it.” He turned and started walking to the door.

“You can’t be a ghost, you shook my hand.” Derek was clearly in the denial phase.

“Please, I can push a couch across the room and levitate chairs, stuff like that is child’s play.” He smiled, proving his point by twitching his head and making the door open and close. “So you can run screaming now, I really don’t mind.” He offered Derek a small smile, “I’m pretty used to it.”

He watched Derek stand up from his place behind the couch and walk toward the door. Towards him.

“How can you throw me that sad smile and expect me to just leave, especially after everything we’ve talked about in the past few hours.” He place his hand on Stiles’, leaning down and hesitantly pressing his lips to Stiles’ forehead. “Now I’ve got loads more questions to ask.” He whispered. “Wanna share my sleeping bag tonight?”

“Derek I don’t sleep.” Stiles looked up.

“I don’t care.” Derek honestly didn’t understand. It was almost as if his body had some sort of default setting for ‘interacting with the amazingly cute and funny boy that you just found out was a ghost.’

Stiles conceded defeat and moved into the sleeping bag with Derek. The question game that they had been playing was brought back with almost a religious fervor.

“What’s it like?” “Why aren’t you like in Heaven or something?” “Do you miss cheeseburgers? I know I would.”

Most of the time, Stiles would provide an answer, but every so often Derek would ask a question that he had never even thought about before.

“Why don’t you clean up the place?” “Can you float?” “How come I can see you? Does that mean I’m psychic or is that something you can control?”

All Stiles could do was laugh at how many questions were thrown his way. “I’ve talked to other people that come around here, so unless all of them have been psychic, I doubt that you are.”

To which Derek almost looked disappointed.

“Damn, I wanted to be like that kid from The Sixth Sense. You know, ‘I see dead people’.” Derek looked beside him, but Stiles was just staring blankly. “You’ve never heard of The Sixth Sense have you?” And Stiles just shook his head.

They sat for a few more moments and once again, Derek could feel a question waiting to be asked in the silence, but unlike the last time, he had to actually ask this one. “Stiles, when did you die?”

“1987.” He whispered.

“Can I ask how or is that like some sort of really personal question for ghosts?” Derek knew he was rambling, just like he already knew how Stiles died.

“I hung myself in the attic as payback at my dad.” He choked on the last words and curled into Derek.

“It’s okay, I got ya.” Derek had his arms around Stiles before he even started talking. He didn’t even stop to think about the oddness of the situation, he was laying in a sleeping bag, in an abandoned house, cuddling a ghost. ‘Dear Penthouse Forum…’ He joked in his mind.

“You should probably get some sleep Derek.” Stiles whispered into his chest, “I’ll just sit here and listen to you breathe or something equally as creepy.” He let out a small laugh, curling farther into the warmth that was Derek Hale.

Derek didn’t exactly know when he fell asleep, but he knew that it was amazing to fall asleep with someone in his arms.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Derek felt was a ray of sunshine floating in through the broken shades. The second was a cool body curled into his.

“You’re awake.” Stiles mumbled into his chest. “I guess you’ll have to go soon.” He could feel Stiles moving further into his chest, almost instinctively he curled his arms around the other teen. ‘Not really a teen anymore, I guess.’ Derek thought to himself.

“Only for food, I’ll be back.” He didn’t look down at the eyes that he could feel piercing his skull. “It’s only Saturday Stiles; I can spend all weekend here if I want.” This time he took the chance of looking down to be greeted by a big smile.

“You really want to spend the weekend with me? Even if it means you have to come to this run down dump?” Stiles’ excitement shot through the roof. “We can talk more! And we can play cards and stuff! Oh, and I can give you a tour, except for the attic of course, unless you want to go up there, but it’s a pretty morbid idea.” Noticing Derek’s eye roll, he paused before quickly adding, “Yeah, I’ll shut up now.”

“Isn’t the attic where you.” He stopped for a moment. “You know, did it?” He made a gesture of dragging his thumb across his neck. Stiles nodded and that was all the confirmation he needed. “I don’t know, would you want to show me that?”

“That depends on if you’d want to see it.”

“Well, it seems like a pretty.” Derek rolled on top of Stiles. “Intimate thing to do.” He leaned down, once again pressing his lips to Stiles’ forehead.

“Well if you want to call it intimate, I won’t argue, although it still sounds pretty morbid, like that movie you were talking about, because who really wants to see dead people? Although you seem to be having a fun time seeing me.” He stopped to take a breath, “Not like ‘seeing me’ as in dating, but like just seeing me and talking to me in general, and wow I’m talking a lot aren’t I? I should probably shut up now. Yeah that’s a good idea.” His cheeks tinted red as he looked away.

“I didn’t know ghosts could blush.” He moved down once again as Stiles looked back up at him. “It’s a nice color on you.” 

\--

It took Derek about half an hour to go get food and to return to the house, and all the while, his mind was racing, wondering if his experience was real or simply just a figment of his lonely imagination. As soon as he entered the door however, his mind was put at ease by the wide smile of one Stiles Stilinski. The entire time he was eating, he could feel Stiles’ eyes on him.

“I know I already asked you,” He spoke between bites, “But do you miss cheeseburgers?”  
Stiles shrugged. “I don’t really remember what they taste like.” Truthfully, he didn’t really remember much of any human sensation. His night curled up in Derek’s arms was the first time in years that he had had any form of human contact.

“I know you can touch things, but can you like feel them? I don’t know if that makes sense.” Derek looked up from his fries at the teen sitting across from him.

“Well sort of. It’s different from when you’re alive I guess. I really have to focus on feeling something. It takes effort, which is why I haven’t done it in so long. Last night was the first time in a long time that I really tried to physically feel things. Well thing.” He looked into Derek’s eyes. Sea-green, his favorite color. “Well, you.” He looked back down as a blush colored his cheeks.

Derek placed his hand on his new friend’s shoulder. “That’s sweet of you.” He offered a smile that was returned without hesitation. “Now,” He said, standing up as he piled the wrappers into the bag. “How about that tour?” He was rewarded with a huge grin.

Stiles hadn’t had so much fun in years. “So this is the foyer as you already know. The room to our left is the dining room and beyond that is the kitchen. The door to our right is the study, which also leads into the family room, which we can get to through this door ahead of us. The extra few doors just lead to the bathroom, the closet, and then the one in the study leads to the downstairs.” He led Derek through the first floor, on which Derek commented, 

“It’s like a big figure eight.” Stiles smiled and nodded, bouncing up the stairs and dragging his companion behind him.

“So basically the upper floor is just one big hallway. As you’ve already seen, the master bedroom is right behind us, my old room is through the door on our right, and the guest bedroom and the bathroom are the doors near the end.”

“Can we go in your room?” Derek’s eye shone with excitement as Stiles opened the door. Whatever he had been expecting, Derek was surprised by what was actually behind the door. It was definitely the only well-maintained room in the house. There was a nice bed, a dresser, a bookcase, and a door which Derek assumed led to a closet. This led him to another question, “Do you change your clothes? Or do you just stay in the same clothes forever? Or can you take them off at all?” The last question visibly reddened Stiles’ cheeks.

“When I ‘woke up,’” He used air quotes to emphasize the words. “I wasn’t wearing any clothing whatsoever” His voice was lowered for some reason. “I never really thought about why I wasn’t wearing clothes, but now I just put on clothes like normal. I guess if I was invisible, you would just see a floating outfit.”  
The thought of that last comment made Derek laugh more than he should have. They settled down on the old bed, somehow comfortable even though it had spent years not really being used. “Why do you clean this room but not the rest of the house?”

“Well I like keeping my room clean, I usually spend most of my time in here.” He flashed a mischievous smile, “That is, unless someone comes poking around, then I get to be spooky.” He waved his arms around and made a creepy sound effect, laughter soon overriding any scariness brought by his booing. 

“Why didn’t you try to scare me Stiles?”

“You looked nice. You weren’t some thrill seeker or some idiot with a video camera trying to fuck with my house. You were just here because you were here. I liked that.” He smiled at Derek, moving closer to him on the bed. “And I’m glad I didn’t scare you, I haven’t had anyone for a long while.”

“Well you’ve got me now. The best of friends.” He laughed and pressed his nose into Stiles’ hair, inhaling the scent of the house and sawdust and something distinctly odd that just made his mind scream, ‘Stiles.’ Followed quickly by, ‘I didn’t know ghosts could smell. I guess they might as well be human, except for the whole dead, cold, and well ghost thing.’

“Ghost buddies.” He chuckled into Derek’s chest, listening to such a strong heartbeat. It was beating right against his ear, making him smile. The sound of life, strong and resonating in Derek’s chest. A sound that reverberated through his head for the first time in years.

“You’re surprisingly human for a ghost, like you smell and I can feel you, and you’re only a little cold.” For emphasis he rubbed his arms on Stiles as if trying to warm him up.

“I’ll try to ignore that you said I smell. But I never really thought about it, I guess ghosts aren’t really as supernatural as most people think. Or maybe I’m like a mutated ghost, an outcast in the ghost world. I’m sure they’ve made a movie like that.”

Derek snorted. “Yeah, Casper The Friendly Ghost.”

Derek’s comment earned a scowl. “I am totally a great ghost, that’s why no one comes around here, I freak them all out with my scariness.” Stiles whined. “I’m the greatest ghost in Beacon Hills.”

“I was only joking.” Derek started laughing and smiled when Stiles joined in. “Don’t be such a sour ghost.” That earned an immature tongue sticking out at him, making him laugh harder.

“I’m glad you came back Derek.” He pushed into Derek’s chest. “This is fun. I like this.” He grabbed a fistful of Derek’s shirt, as if making sure he was still there. “I like you.” His voice came out a whisper. He separated from Derek and lay back on the bed. “Well you know that sounds creepy, I mean that you’re really cool, and maybe we could be friends, and stuff like that, and I’m not really trying to be creepy, even though it probably really is. Wow I really rant when I’m nervous.” He leaned down and pushed his lips against Derek’s chest, an attempt to silence himself.

“Can I see the attic Stiles?” He pushed his fingers through the fuzz on Stiles’ head. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Pausing, he looked the amber orbs below him. “But I feel like we should go up there.”

Stiles hopped up off the bed, his fake enthusiasm obvious yet somehow endearing. “Sure Derek, sounds like a plan.” He pulled Derek up off the bed, leading him off of the bed and through the door. The walk down the hallway was tense at best. 

Stiles pulled down the ladder in the closet, climbing up into the dark room with Derek close behind. “Stiles.” Derek whispered in the silence. “Is that?”

“I never took it down. I can’t touch it.” To prove his point, he waved his hand through the loop of rope, his hand phasing through the material. “Even if I wanted to get rid of it, I can’t even touch it. I like keeping it though, it reminds me of the horrible choice I made.” 

“Stiles.” The teen said nothing, only staring at the rafters. “Stiles, look at me.” Instantly, Derek wished that his voice didn’t sound so harsh, because the moment Stiles turned around, Derek noticed the tears in his eyes. “Stiles.” He pulled the boy into a tight embrace. “You’re crying.” He managed a laugh. “You’re definitely a defective ghost, maybe we should send you back.” That comment earned him a smile.

“I don’t know, if you send me back, you’ll probably miss me.” He looked up at Derek, just in time to see him leaning down.

It was hesitant at first. A slow brushing of lips. He felt a hand cradle his cheek as it deepened. He didn’t notice the tears streaming down his cheeks, but Derek sure did. They didn’t stop, even as he felt a pair of thumbs dragging across his cheeks.

He opened his eyes to Derek smiling, feeling a blush coat his cheeks.  
“Stiles?” A hand was still caressing his cheek.

“Yeah Derek?”

“You’re invisible.” Stiles looked down to see his clothes floating in mid-air.

“Oh, geez I’m sorry.” ‘Just focus.’ He told himself. It took a second for his limbs to come back to reality.

“Much better, now I can see those beautiful eyes.” He gave Stiles a wide smile, receiving a huge grin in return.

“Did you just call me beautiful Derek?” 

“I might have.” He leaned down and kissed the spastic ghost again before leading him down the ladder and closing the door behind them. He smiled as they walked back to Stiles’ room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second to last chapter that I already have written, so I might be a bit slow to chapter 4.


	3. Chapter 3

They spent the rest of that day in Stiles’ room, talking, asking questions, and even playing cards when a comfortable silence had enveloped the room.

The darkness brought them another night of Derek sleeping with a silent and waiting Stiles in his arms.

In the morning, Derek woke up to a face-full of Stiles’ fuzzy head. “To what do I owe this glorious morning full of fur?” He asked, pulling back from his companion. A large grin peeked up at him from its hiding place in his shirt.

“You said my name in your sleep.” Stiles beamed up at Derek, reaching up to wriggle his hand through Derek’s thick locks. “I liked it a lot. And I may have woke you up when I nuzzled into   
your chest.” Seeing Derek’s look of amusement, he corrected, “It was a manly nuzzle.”

“Yeah, because nuzzling is totally manly.” Derek snorted, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Stiles’ forehead, surprised at how easy it was to be this affectionate person that no one had ever even seen.

“Shut up, you know you like it.” They exchanged a smile before Derek yawned, stretching out and leaning down to press his lips to Stiles’. 

“Maybe just because it’s you.” Derek smiled. “Maybe because you give a crap about me.” He paused. “And not just how popular I am.”

“How would I know how popular you are, you dumbo?” Derek looked down in time to catch a grin before Stiles pushed his head back into Derek’s chest. “I don’t want you to go.” Derek heard him whisper.

“Stiles.”

“Today’s Sunday, which means you have to leave tonight because you have school tomorrow.”

“Stiles I won’t leave you.”

“What about school?”

“I meant in a metaphorical sense. I’m not gonna leave you here alone. I’m gonna visit you every day that I can, just so I can see you smile.” That earned him a smile.

“Okay.”

It took an hour this time for Derek to return to the house. He returned with a few bags, which fell to the ground when Stiles grabbed onto him like a koala.

“I missed you Derek.”

“Yes, I can see that.” He laughed out.  
-  
Days would go by.

Texts would be sent and received, because of course Derek bought him a phone.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was good.

Time flew by.  
-  
There were stolen kisses, and huddled moments during storms.

There were words of tenderness, and words of happiness.

And eventually words became questions which needed answers.  
-  
“So you’re like 30 years older than me right?”

“Um I guess.”

“How many guys have walked into your house?”

“Dere-”

“I’m just wondering Stiles.”

“None like you.”

“Does he visit?” Derek closed his chemistry book, a pencil marking his page.

“Who?”

“You know. The guy.” He paused in thought. “Chris right?”

“He visits every year.”

“Oh, does he live in town? What’s his name? Does he have like a boyfriend or a girlfriend or something?”

Stiles let out a bitter laugh. “He comes and puts a flower up in the attic. He likes talking about his life and all that happens. He doesn't know that I’m still here though.”

“Why don’t you say anything?”

“Because he’s got a good life Derek, he’s got a wife and a daughter about your age, and I smile at the way he talks about them. He loves them so much, and if I say something, it would mess   
with his whole life.”

“Oh my God, who’s his daughter?”

“Her name is Allison Argent. He says she’s really smart, and pretty. He never brings a picture though.”

“Wait!” Derek exclaimed as he pulled out a picture from his wallet. A group shot of him and his friends; he showed it to Stiles, pointing to the girl licking his cheek as he laughed. “Here she is, she’s dating my best friend, I totally love that girl.” Stiles took the picture from him and looked at it for a bit. “Her dad is like the most awesome guy ever, he throws huge parties for all of our birthdays, and he was the first person to talk to me when everyone found out I liked boys.” He looked at Stiles, in time to notice small tears forming. He didn’t need to ask before pulling the smaller teen into a hug. 

“She looks like someone I’d be friends with.” He let out a choked laugh.

“She’d totally love you man. All of them would.” They sat for a little bit. Stiles wasn’t crying anymore, Derek just liked the feeling of having someone in his arms. “Well this definitely isn’t what   
I wanted to tell you.”

“Hm?”

“I told my friends that I have a boyfriend.”

“Wait what?” There was a freak out in the making.

“Well they asked me why I haven’t gone out with Danny yet, and I was like ‘Well I’ve already got a boyfriend,’ And they interrogated me, but I wouldn’t give them a single word besides your name. They still totally want to meet you.”

“Like that’ll ever happen. I can’t even leave the house.”

“Well I was thinking, what if we fixed this place up? And then after graduation I can live here.”

“What? That’s a crazy awesome idea!”

“Well that’s part one of my idea, but I can’t tell you the other part yet.”

“But it’s a good idea right? Not like the time you tried to get a cat in here for me and he flipped out and tried to scratch me?”

“It’s so much better than that idea, and I think this will actually work.”

“Okay fine, so how exactly do you plan on fixing this place up? That’d take some money. Like lots of money.” He threw his arms out to the side to help make his point.

“Stiles, I’m filthy rich, remember?” He paused. “Wait, I’ve never told you that have I?”

Stiles’ mouth fell a little bit and he shook his head. “No, you failed to mention that one.”

“Well yeah, I’m sure I can convince my uncle to help rebuild this place.”

“Oh Derek,” He tipped Derek over, lips meeting as they hit the ground laughing. “That’s amazing.”  
-  
It was the moments when Derek was at school that were the worst.

Stiles couldn’t even use his fancy new phone to send any messages, because the school had some sort of “jammer” as Derek had referred to it.

Stiles would spend his time tearing down decaying walls and tossing old couches and chairs into the burning pit out back.

They’d already made so much progress on the house, at least since Derek’s uncle got all the land deeds in order. Stiles was excited to work on his house, bring it back to its former glory and such.

Of course there was still the small seed of sadness he got from tearing up his former home, but that just comes with the territory.  
-  
The June of Derek’s junior year, the house is nearing completion.

And while Derek is at school taking exams, Stiles is putting down floorboards and listening for Derek’s car to pull up.

As soon as he heard an engine out front, he bursts out the door. “Derek! I finished the kitchen!”

But he’s looking directly into the eyes of Chris Argent.

Correction: he’s looking into the wide tear filled eyes of Chris Argent.

“Chris. I-”

“No, no you aren’t real, I must be going insane. Yeah that’s it, I’m finally going crazy.”

“Chris I’m a ghost. I’ve always been a ghost. I’ve always seen you when you come to the attic and talk to me. I listened to every single word about Vicky and Allison, and I listened to you cry on my birthdays sometimes.” There was a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re a ghost? A ghost dating one of my daughter’s friends? Really Stiles? That’s like some sort of bad sitcom.” Stiles laughs and Chris laughs, and there’s silence. Comfortable silence.

“Is there any way you can. You know.” He looks down into Stiles’ eyes. “Come back?”

“Barring an act of god or some witch lady rolling up in here? No.”

Derek pulls up in his Camaro just at the right moment. “It’s been a very.” A long pause. “Interesting visit.”

“Mr. Argent! What are you doing here?”

“Oh just passing through Derek. You know someone I loved a lot used to live here, but he moved on a long time ago.” Chris flashes Derek a small smile before driving off.

“Stiles, what was that about?”

“I think he wanted to visit the house one last time.”

That night Stiles spent in the attic, staring at a loop of rope hanging from the rafter.


	4. Chapter 4

It could be a worse life. Death. Whatever it is.

Their summer is full of laughter and construction.

Derek will always remember the one day.

“What would happen if I took it down?” He asked as they tore up some floorboards.

“I don’t know, I mean maybe I’d come with you if you had it? Of course I could just go away.”

“Nevermind, it was a dumb question.” He looks up at Stiles and they share a quick sad look.

Lately Derek’s friends had been getting a bit rough on him, trying to meet Stiles. It seemed like every time they saw him, there would always be one of them (usually Allison ironically enough) that would ask him when they could meet the mysterious Stiles. And every time he would shrug it off with a “Maybe someday.”

And every time they would give him this quizzical look and drop the subject.

He had just assumed that they could come around after the house was finished, but as construction progressed he was weary of the thought of bringing them around.

“That’d be cool if I could bring you out to meet people. It’d be nice.”

He sees Stiles stop and sigh. “That’d be cool I guess.” He goes back to pulling at boards half-heartedly. Derek looks at him, seeing shoulders visibly tense.

“I’m being stupid again, sorry.” He rips up a piece of wood, jamming a piece in his thumb. “Fuck!”

Stiles’ head snaps up. “What’s wrong?”

Derek’s clutching his hand for dear life. “Motherfucking splinter.”

Stiles laughs raucously. “Oh you big baby, come here.”

“No, you’re gonna make it hurt more.” He feigns hurt and pulls his hand away.

“Oh quit being so dumb and get your ass over here.” Derek slumps over and Stiles pulls the splinter out in a quick motion.

“How’d you do that so fast?”

“Magical ghost powers, now get back to work.”

-

Stiles slips through Derek’s arms and heads up to the attic that night.

‘So Derek, I’m really hoping that this works.’ He writes down on a scrap of paper. ‘And well, you know if it doesn’t. Well, I love you. So there’s that.’

He lifts up a pair of shears, and snips the rope.

-

Derek wakes up alone in the morning, with a sunken feeling in his chest.

“Stiles.”

He runs out of the room to see the attic stairs pulled down.

With a gasp, he looks at the loop of rope piled on the ground.

And the note catches his eye as tears start pricking up at the corners of his eyes.

“I never got to say it.” He whispers.

-

Stiles on the other hand, is not thinking about saying ‘I love you.’

He’s in fact surprised that he’s thinking at all.

He’s also surprised that he’s freezing cold, and that he can’t push through the wall.

But when he smacks his hand against the wall, and for a brief second he feels a throbbing pain in his hand, he gets the biggest surprise in the last 5 minutes he’s been awake.

Putting his hand on his chest solidifies his realization.

“Holy shit, I’m alive. Like heart beating actually breathing alive.” He feels around in the darkness.

“But if I’m alive.” He takes a second. “Is this my body?”

“I’m fucking buried alive. This is great, just great.” He reaches into his pocket, only to find it’s fake. “Buried alive in a fake tuxedo.” He scratches at the board above him and feels pieces of wood fall off as he does. “Buried alive in a fake tuxedo in a cheap pine box. You know for a family that lives in a huge house, you’d think we could afford better.”

Smacking the rotted wood above him, it splinters and cracks, releasing some dirt down onto his face. “Well there’s that, at least I can get out.”

-

After hours (or probably minutes, he couldn’t really tell) Stiles feels his fingers break the surface, and after a few more minutes he manages to pull himself all the way up, greeted by a surprise.

He’s on the Stilinski property.

“My dad fucking buried me next to the house, goddammit.”

Walking inside he raises his voice. “Derek? You here?” He calls out, and hears a scrambling sound coming from upstairs.

“Stiles? Stiles?!” The second time Derek is shouting as he vaults down the stairs, pulling Stiles into a tight embrace. “I thought I lost you forever.”

“Well you kinda did.” He steps back and they take in the sight of each other, Stiles seeing Derek’s tearstained cheeks and red eyes, Derek seeing Stiles’ cheap tuxedo and dirt coverage. “But I’m back, and better than ever. Oh wait, close your eyes.”

“Stiles.”

“Just do it ya spoilsport.” Derek gives him a little scowl and shuts his eyes.

Stiles lifts Derek’s hand to his chest, to which Derek gasps and pulls back as if his hand caught fire. “Stiles. You’re-”

“Alive, sexy right?” He smiles at Derek. “Now we can do everything and anyth-”

But Derek silences him with a kiss. Rough against the wall. As they break apart, his hand rests on Stiles’ chest.

"I love you Stiles."

"I love you too."

“I don’t think I’ll get used to feeling your heart beat.” They share a short laugh.

“Well you should be by now.”

Derek looks down at him quizically.

“Even before I came back. Even before my heart started beating,”

He kissed Derek, the last part a whisper against his lips,

“it was beating for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally got around to finishing this the way I wanted to. Between graduation, and Drum Corps, I never got to give this story a proper ending. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read this, liked it, kudosed, commented, anything. Thank you for giving me the motivation.
> 
> Signing off for now,  
> Jordan


End file.
